Records show 5th wettest January in Cornwall since records began

The Met Office has said that January was the wettest since 1994 in Cornwall, and the fifth wettest on record.

Early Met Office statistics for January 2014 show that across southwest England the 222.6 mm of rainfall up to the January 28 means January 2014 is already the 5th wettest on record and the wettest January since 1995 (224.4 mm). The wettest January on record here was 1948 when 244.3 mm of rain was recorded.

For the UK as a whole 164.6 mm of rain has fallen so far this month, 35 per cent above the long term average, with all nations having above average rainfall.

There has been quite a contrast from south to north across the UK, with northern Scotland having received 83 per cent of its long term average rainfall so far this month, a sharp contrast to the 200% over southern England.

The southeast and central southern England region has already had its wettest January in records going back to 1910, with three days still to go.

A large area of southern England from East Devon to Kent and inland across parts of the midlands has already seen twice the average rainfall for the month.

Southeast and central southern England has received more than twice its average rainfall with 175.2 mm of rain from 1 - 28 January. This beats the previous record of 158.2 mm set in January 1988.

In Somerset, the military is preparing to help flooded areas.

Comments (1)

I suppose before "records began", people just used to say it had been very wet and maybe argue about which year had been the worst, unless they didn't even keep records of what year it was at that point...

I suppose before "records began", people just used to say it had been very wet and maybe argue about which year had been the worst, unless they didn't even keep records of what year it was at that point...Lord Barrington Forbes-Smythe